Privacy Policy

Friends of the Cancer Centre – Privacy Policy

At Friends of the Cancer Centre, our supporters mean everything to us. Without your support we would not be able to provide funding to support cancer services that make a real and meaningful difference to thousands of cancer patients and their families in Northern Ireland each year.

Friends of the Cancer Centre (“we”) promises to respect any personal data you share with us and keep it safe.  This privacy policy sets out how we collect and use the information you give us. If you have any questions please feel to free to get in touch with us by calling 028 9069 9393 or email [email protected]

 

Lawful basis for processing

Your privacy is protected by law, which says that we can use your personal information only if we have a proper reason to do so.  The reasons Friends of the Cancer Centre may use your personal information are:

• For administrative purposes
• To fulfill a contract we have with you;
• When it is our legal duty;
• When it in our legitimate interest; or
• When you consent to it.

*A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, but this must not unfairly go against your rights or freedoms. Friends of the Cancer Centre employs the lawful basis of ‘legitimate interest’ when the charity believes that the individual would reasonably expect us to contact them and send marketing communications. This may be because you have enquired about the work of the Friends of the Cancer Centre, made a donation to Friends of the Cancer Centre in the past or attended an event in support of the charity.

If we rely on our legitimate interest we will tell you what that is.

Below is a list of the ways that we use your personal information.  This is also where we tell you what our legitimate interests are:

What We use your personal information for	Our reason(s) for processing	Our legitimate interest (where applicable)
To manage our relationship with you To keep you updated about our work by sending you our newsletter To send you information about our fundraising activities To keep you updated on additional ways you can support Friends of the Cancer Centre	For administrative purposes Fulfilling contracts Our legal duty Our legitimate interests Your Consent	Keeping our records up to date Working out which of our activities may interest you and telling you about them Being efficient about how we fulfil our legal and contractual duties
To run our charity in an efficient and proper way.  This includes managing our financial position, business capability, planning, communications, corporate governance and audit	Our legal duty Our legitimate interests	Complying with regulations that apply to us Being efficient about how we fulfill our legal and contractual duties

For a more detailed breakdown, see section 4.

Respecting our valued supporters

Friends of the Cancer Centre is committed to making a difference to the lives of people affected by cancer in Northern Ireland by enhancing the care and support they receive at every stage of their cancer journey. 

To do this we need to collect and process certain personal data, such as information needed when you make a donation.  Your data also allows us to develop a better understanding of our supporters, allowing us to fundraise more efficiently and effectively in order to support those people who need it most.

If we collect sensitive personal data from you, we will seek to only do so with your consent.  Friends of the Cancer Centre fully respects any personal information you share with us and we promise to keep it safe.  We will never sell your data and we will safeguard your personal information in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the Data Protection Act 2018, and any subsequent, enacting or replacement legislation.

In the sections below, you can learn what information we gather from you, how we process it, hold it, as well as how we communicate with you.  If you wish to stop hearing from us at any time, we will respect that so you’ll also find out how you can stop any further communication from us at any time.

 

What information do we collect?

Personal information is information that can be used to identify you, tell us about you and help us understand your relationship with us.  For example, if you make a donation, volunteer with us, register to fundraise or sign up for an event, Friends of the Cancer Centre may, with your full knowledge and consent, collect the following information:

• Your full name
• Your contact details – including postal and email addresses
• Demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
• If your involvement with the charity is linked to your employment or membership of a group or organisation we may collect additional data such as your job title and company you work for; official title and group or organisation you belong to.
• Other information relevant to your specific enquiry
• We may also collect / use your bank or credit card details to process your registration fee or payment.

 

Where it is appropriate we may also ask for:

• Information relating to your health (for example if you are taking part in an event which requires us to know of any issues which may affect your ability to take part)
• Why you have decided to donate to us. We will never make this question mandatory, and only want to know the answer if you are comfortable telling us.
• If you contact us via our website and you do not complete your registration or query fully, we may need to contact you to complete your registration or to see if we can help with any problems you may be experiencing with the form or our website.

 

How we collect your data

The information we collect is gathered in the following ways:

When you give it to us DIRECTLY by

• asking about our activities or register with us
• making a donation to us
• registering for an event us via our social media
• telling us your story
• ordering products and services (such as merchandise from our shop)
• signing up to our newsletter

 

When you give it to us INDIRECTLY

• your details may be shared with us by independent event organisers or by an organisation or club you are involved with
• your details may be passed on via independent third parties such as PayPal, Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving.  These independent third parties will only do so when you have indicated that you wish to support Friends of the Cancer Centre and with your consent. You should check their privacy policy when you provide your information to understand fully how they will process your data.
• We may also collect and observe data about supporters’ when they use our website, such as which pages are most visited and which events or activities are of most interest as well as feedback ratings and text.  This information can be used to help us improve our website and services and ensure we provide you with the best service. Wherever possible, the information we use for this purpose will be aggregated or anonymised i.e. it will not identify you as an individual visitor to our website. More information can be found in the section below on ‘Our website’

 

Why do we need and how do we use your information. 

Every donation we receive matters to Friends of the Cancer Centre and your information is also really important to us as it allows us to carry out a number of actions that ensure your support reaches those who need it most through our work. 

Here are some of the ways we use your information to support our work:

Donations – when you make a donation we will use your information to:

• process the donation
• send a thank you letter and/or receipt for your donation

Fundraising events – if you register to take part in a Friends of the Cancer Centre event (by phone, registration form or online) or choose to hold your own event to raise money for the charity we will use your information to:

• process the event fee if applicable
• send you a fundraising pack or supporting materials as needed
• add you to our database in order to confirm you as a participant for that event/ raising money for the charity
• process Gift Aid
• contact you to offer support and provide fundraising materials as appropriate

Providing you with products – if you order something from the charity, such as our merchandise, we will use your information to:

• process payment for product(s) if applicable
• post you the product(s)
• send you a receipt and/or thank you letter for making a purchase from the charity

Payments

If you use your credit or debit card to donate to us, buy something, pay online or over the phone, or register for one of our events, we will need to collect information to process this payment.  We will ensure that this is done securely and in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. 

We do not store your credit or debit card details at all.  Following the completion of your transaction all card details and validation codes are securely destroyed once the payment or donation has been processed. Most transactions are undertaken without a person ever seeing your credit card details and only those staff authorised to process payments will be able to see your card details.

We also ask that you never email your credit or debit card details to us to ensure your information is not compromised in any way.  If we receive an email containing any credit or debit card details, it will be immediately deleted, no payment will be taken and you will be notified about this. We will only ever ask you to make a payment to us in person or over the phone to help keep your details secure.

 

Payments via PayPal

If you make a payment to the charity via PayPal we will also be able to collect certain information in order to process your action.  For example, if you pay for an event via our website using PayPal, we will receive details of your name, address and other contact information from PayPal to confirm your payment has been received.  If necessary, we may also use this information to contact you regarding any additional support or materials you need. 

If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for its protection and privacy.  For further information on the details PayPal collects from you when using its website please visit

www.paypal.com/ie/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

 

Donations via JustGiving and Virgin Money Giving

If you set up a fundraising page on JustGiving or Virgin Money Giving we will be notified to make us aware that you are raising funds for the charity.  Just Giving and/or Virgin Money Giving will also send us your name and email address.  In order to support your fundraising efforts, we will contact you using these details to offer advice, support or provide you with materials as needed.  We do not collect any information from your family, friends and supporters who make a donation through your page. 

If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for its protection and privacy.  For further information on the details JustGiving may collect from you when using its website please visit www.justgiving.com/info/privacy .  For further information on the details Virgin Money Giving may collect from you when using its website please visit

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving/terms/privacy-policy.jsp

Donations  via Facebook

If you make a donation using our Facebook donate button or by creating a Facebook Fundraiser, Facebook will send us information including your first name, surname, donation amount and email address (if it was shared),  If you opt to Gift Aid your donation we will also receive your home address so we can claim the Gift Aid.

If your family, friends and supporters make a donation through your Facebook Fundraising page the only information we will receive from Facebook is their first name and surname, unless they choose to Gift Aid their donation in which case we will receive their home address so we can claim Gift Aid.

For further information about the details Facebook Fundraising may collect from you when using its website please visit https://www.facebook.com/help

 

Sharing your story

Personal stories from our patients and supporters are a really powerful way to highlight the work of the charity and the difference people like you can make to the lives of local people affected by cancer. 

Some people choose to tell us about their experiences with cancer to help further our work.  This may include sharing sensitive information related to their health and family life in addition to their biographical and contact information.  We will only ever share a personal story with the explicit consent from the person, people or family involved (parent or guardian if they are under 18). 

We will always make the individual(s) fully aware of when and where their story will be used (press, website, social media, newsletters, annual reviews, other marketing materials etc.).  We will never pass contact information to anyone outside the charity. 

 

Administration and records

Here we use personal information:

• for internal record keeping, such as the management of feedback or a complaint
• to process job applications or volunteer placements
• where it is required or authorised by law
• when assessing your personal information for the purposes of credit risk reduction or fraud prevention (regrettably some people target charities for illegal purposes such as money laundering and, quite rightly, we are required to monitor financial activity and report suspected fraud to the appropriate authorities)

 

Staying in touch – updates, marketing and fundraising

We will contact you occasionally to let you know about some of our latest work, the progress we are making and to ask for donations to help us continue our vital work in Northern Ireland.  Here we use personal information to:

• send you updates on our work and how your money is making a difference to local people affected by cancer
• send you information on our upcoming fundraising events and other ways you may wish to support, raise money or donate money to the charity. 
• build profiles of our supporters to help us send more targeted and relevant communications

We do not sell or share personal details to third parties for the purposes of marketing.

You can change your mind at any time by contacting us at:

You can also call us on 028 9069 9393 or email [email protected]

We will not use your information for marketing purposes if you have asked us not to. However, we will retain your details on our database to help ensure we do not continue to contact you.

 

Information sharing and disclosure

Your information is really important to us and we are extremely sensitive and cautious in how we use it.  That’s why we promise that we will never sell your information to a 3^rd party.  We also promise that your information will only ever be shared with our most trusted partners solely for our own charitable purposes. 

For example, we occasionally employ external companies to process personal data on our behalf, such as with the distribution of our newsletter. We do comprehensive checks on these companies before we work with them and put a contract in place that sets out our expectations and requirements, especially regarding how they manage the personal data they have access to.  They are only permitted to use the data in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the Data Protection Act 2018 and any other relevant legislation under our strict instructions.

We may disclose your personal information to third parties if we are required to do so through a legal obligation (for example to the police or a government body); to enable us to enforce or apply our terms and conditions or rights under an agreement; or to protect us, for example, in the case of suspected fraud or defamation. We do not share your information for any other purposes.

 

Accuracy of your information

To help us ensure that any communication you wish to receive from us reaches you, it’s important that all information we hold about you is accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. If any of the information we hold about you is inaccurate and either you advise us or we become otherwise aware, we will ensure it is amended and updated as soon as possible.

 

Under 16s

If you are aged 16 or under, and would like to participate in an event, make a donation or get involved with us, please make sure that you have your parent/guardian’s permission before giving us your personal information.  Some of our events have age restrictions and we recommend that if you are under 16 to please ask a parent or guardian to contact us initially.  When we collect information about a child or young person, we will make it clear to the parent/ guardian as to the reasons for collecting this information and how it will be used.

 

Vulnerable circumstances policy

We recognise the importance of protecting our vulnerable supporters and follow the guidance issued by the Institute of Fundraising on treating donors fairly. We believe this helps to support our staff and fundraisers who come into contact with supporters in providing high quality customer care, ensuring anyone donating to the charity is in a position to make a free and informed decision

 

How we keep your data safe

We will always hold your information securely and follow stringent procedures to ensure that any personal data we hold about you is stored and processed in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and any subsequent, enacting or replacement legislation.. 

We use a customer relationship management system (CRM) to support our activity. This means that we can keep the information you provide us, so we are able to see the history and relevant details of your relationship with us. This ensures that we provide appropriate and accurate communications. We take information security very seriously. No one is allowed access to our system or files unless they need this in order to provide a service to you or one of the other purpose discussed in this policy.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff and volunteers.

We will keep your information for as long as required to enable us to operate our services but we will not keep your information for any longer than is necessary. We will take into consideration our legal obligations and tax and accounting rules when determining how long we should retain your information. When we no longer need to retain your information we will ensure it is securely disposed of, at the appropriate time.

1. Our website

Our website is one of the most important tools of our charity as it allows you to find out more about what we do, how your support makes a difference, how you can support us through fundraising and much, much more. 

Our website is hosted on a secure server. Any information you send to us over the internet is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL). Although we cannot 100 per cent guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, we enforce strict procedures and security features to protect your information and prevent unauthorised access.

To make full use of our website you need to accept cookies.  Like most websites, we use “cookies” to help monitor the usage of our website.  The information we collect is anonymous and does not personally identify you. It does not contain your name, address, telephone number, or email address.

We also use Google Analytics to track and monitor website usage.  This allows us to monitor what parts of our website are working well and what parts of the website our supporters are most interested in.  This information then allows us to tailor the content of our website, ensuring our visitors and supporters see more of the content they are interested in.  The information we use via Google Analytics is anonymous and does not personally identify you. It does not contain your name, address, telephone number, or email address.  If you would rather that your visits to this website are not recorded then please consider looking at Google Analytics’ currently available opt-outs.

Our website contains links to other websites belonging to third parties and we participate in social networking sites including but not limited to Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. We may also include content from sites such as these on our website however, would advise that we do not have any control the privacy practices of these other sites. You should make sure when you leave our site that you have read and understood that site’s privacy policy in addition to our own.

2. Controlling the information Friends of the Cancer Centre holds about you

We are always very happy to work with you to ensure that you are comfortable with the data we hold and how we use it. 

If you would like to control the communications you receive from the charity, you can opt in and opt out from our communications.  When you fill in a form (paper or online), make a donation or provide your details, you will see one of more tick boxes asking you to:

• Opt-in to receive email communications from us
• Opt-out to receiving written communications from us – this could include thank you letters, information about our events and our twice yearly newsletter and other information we think you would like to receive.

If you don’t wish to be contact by us, please tick the boxes as appropriate.  If you have agreed that we can use your information but change your mind at a later date, you can update your preferences at any time via one of these methods:

• Call us on 028 9069 9393
• Email [email protected]
• Write to us at: Friends of the Cancer Centre, Northern Ireland Cancer Centre, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7AB

3. Your right to know what information we hold about you

You have the right to:

• request a copy of the information we hold about you
• update or amend the information we hold about you if it is wrong
• change or withdraw your communication preferences at any time
• ask us to remove your personal information from our records
• object to the processing of your information for marketing purposes
• raise a concern or complaint about the way in which your information is being used

If you would like to access your information, please do not hesitate to contact us with a description of the information you wish to see. In addition, your request for information should also include:

• your name
• an address where you can be contacted
• the format you want the information in   

To ensure safety of your information and to help ensure that we only provide personal data to the right person, we will only accept requests via post (not via email or phone) and will also require proof of identity before releasing such information. 

In certain circumstances, you have the ‘Right to be Forgotten’. This means that you can request that Friends of the Cancer Centre removes any and all references to you from our records and systems. We will comply with all such requests in a timely manner, as required by the General Data Protection Regulation, unless other operational or legal obligations require us to retain such data for a particular purpose or period of time.

To request your personal information, please contact us:

Support Services

Friends of the Cancer Centre

Cancer Centre

Belfast City Hospital

Lisburn Road

Belfast Trust BT9 7AB

You should receive the information within one month.  If we need more time, we will contact you and tell you when you can expect the information.

Some sensitive information might not be available to members of the public. If this is the case, we will tell you why we have withheld some or all of the information you requested.

We hope that you will not have cause to complain about any aspect of our services.  If a problem does arise you are, of course, entitled to complain.  If you have any concerns or complaints that cannot be raised with us through the above details, you can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO),

Their address is as follows:

Information Commissioner’s Office

3rd Floor

14 Cromac Place

Belfast

BT7 2JB

Tel: 028 9027 8757 or 0303 123 1114

Email: [email protected]